ORLANDO, Fla. (USA) — Bohemia Interactive Simulations (BISim), a global developer of advanced military simulation and training software, announces that it has integrated the Unreal Engine with its Mantle ETM platform, funded in part by a recent Epic MegaGrant.
Mantle Enterprise Terrain Management (ETM) is a custom-built platform based on proven COTS components and expert design/development services for creating simulated terrain for training, mission rehearsal, visualization, and terrain analysis. Mantle ETM streams procedurally enhanced content to runtime applications and support web applications, VBS Blue based products (e.g. VBS4 and VBS BlueIG), Cesium, and now also the Unreal Engine.
A new Unreal plugin was developed to stream terrain from Mantle ETM. The plugin provides WGS-84 (round Earth) support with real-world view distances and renders data layers from Mantle ETM including heightmap, albedo textures, and surface definitions. Importantly, Mantle ETM supports perfect correlation between runtimes, i.e. object placement and textures rendered in Unreal are identical to those rendered in VBS4, with exactly the same object placement down to the position of individual leaves and grass.
Correlated terrain data between runtime applications, for example, VBS4, Cesium, and Unreal, provides tremendous flexibility and directly supports integrated Live-Virtual-Constructive training events by assuring that all users are operating on identical terrain, regardless of the rendering engine they are using.
“BISim is passionate about its mission to harness the explosive potential of technology to revolutionize training and simulation”, says Pete Morrison, BISim’s Chief Commercial Officer and one of its founders. “Mantle ETM represents a step-change in capability for organizations to manage terrain data, and our work with Unreal adds another popular runtime engine to the Mantle ecosystem”.
This capability further advances the philosophy behind Mantle ETM, that organizations should leverage cloud technology to centrally store and manage terrain data and stream that data on-demand as needed - even to high fidelity 3D training applications built upon the latest game engines.
About Bohemia Interactive Simulations
Founded in 2001, Bohemia Interactive Simulations (BISim) is a global software company at the forefront of simulation and training solutions for defense and civilian organizations. Our in-house engineers use the latest game-based technology to develop high-fidelity, cost-effective training and simulation software products and components for defense applications.
Globally, many hundreds of thousands of military personnel are trained every year using our high-fidelity VBS software products. More than 60 NATO and NATO-friendly countries, and over 300 integrators/prime contractors use VBS technology; many making significant funding commitments to extend VBS product capabilities. Our customers include the U.S. Army, U.S. Marine Corps, Australian Defence Force, Swedish Armed Forces, French MoD, UK MoD, and major integrators. Our flagship VBS products have become one of the most widely used COTS product ranges in the military-simulation sector, supporting hundreds of military use cases and greater military exploitation.